This assignment is a result of DBNA’s decision, announced on April 25, to exit production of heavy duty transit buses for the U.S. and Canadian markets. The base order for the assigned Federal Transit Administration- (FTA) funded contract will commence production in August 2012, all of which are expected to be delivered to NYCT by the end of the year. Final assembly of these buses will take place in New Flyer’s Crookston, Minn. facility.

The buses will be virtually identical to New Flyer’s existing contract with NYCT for 385 buses currently in production. This contract assignment further extends the long-standing partnership between New Flyer and NYCT by providing a proven and reliable product, supported by New Flyer warranty, service and lifetime customer care.

This assigned contact was part of the group of orders for 483 new buses (613 equivalent units or “EUs”) and options for 40 buses (60 EUs) as pending from a number of customers where approval had been granted by the customer's board, council or commission, as appropriate, but purchase documentation had not yet been received by the company and therefore not yet included in the backlog.

The pilots will include a combination of dedicated bus-only lanes that take bus riders out of car congestion, technology to time traffic signals so that buses get more green lights, and platforms that allow riders to “level-board” the bus quickly as they would a subway.

The MetroHealth Line was developed as part of a naming rights agreement between RTA and The MetroHealth System, executed earlier this year, to rebrand the No. 51 family of routes. Those routes have the second highest bus ridership after the HealthLine.